Transforming a System of Care

The U.S. healthcare system is changing—especially when it comes to caring for older adults. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how vulnerable our aging population is, and how unprepared many parts of the system remain. Overstressed nursing homes, overworked primary care physicians, and a lack of accessible resources for dementia care remain persistent challenges.  

But there’s hope. New technologies, treatments, and care models are reshaping what aging and diagnosis can look like. The question now is: How do we deliver these advances to the people that need them most?  

In this episode of the Age of Aging, we explore the evolving landscape of elder care in the U.S. 

We start with Dr. PJ Brennan, the Chief Medical Officer of Penn Medicine who discusses the challenges the U.S. healthcare system is currently facing with its elder population. Then Dr. Kyra O’brien explains why the new anti-amyloid therapies, lecanemab and donanemab, might help more people get diagnosed and allow clinics like the Penn Memory Center to expand their resources. Finally, Dr. O’Brien dives into the new federal program “GUIDE,” which aims to reshape dementia care across the country.   

Resources 

• This week’s Beautiful Question: What is something that you could teach someone? Leave us a message at [phone]. 

• Listen to our episode on anti-amyloid therapies, “In Sickness and in Health” 

• Read more about anti-amyloid therapies 

• More information about GUIDE at Penn Medicine 

• Penn GUIDE interest form 

• General information on GUIDE (cms.gov) 

Special thanks to PJ Brennan, MD, and Kyra O’Brien, MD, for being a part of this episode.  

The Age of Aging is a Penn Memory Center production hosted by Editorial Director Terrence Casey and Producer Jake Johnson, in partnership with the Penn FTD Center, the Penn Institute on Aging, and UPenn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Contributors include Nicolette Calcavecchia, Dalia Elsaid, Jason Karlawish, Emily Largent, and Meaghan Sharp.